Railway car side door



W. E. BlKLE RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOOR Oct. 19, 1943.

Filed Jan. 21, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 Z. 1W L &5 r f i y w 2% i z "a i J W Oct. 19, 1943. w BlKLE- RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOOR Filed Jan. 21, 1941 Patented Oct. 19, 1943 TENT GEFICE RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOOR William E. Bikle, Chicago, 111., assignor, to Standard. Railway Devices Company, a corporation of; Delaware Applicationdanuary 21, 1941; Serial-No.- 375.212

'3 .iClaims;

The invention relates to side doors-for railway carsand specifically'to the fixtures or operating mechanism'for such doors, which doors are com monly arranged to slide in planes substantially parallel with the side walls of the car. The travel of such doors is approximately equal to the width of'the door openingso that the doors may bemoved into alignment with the opening or entirely out of alignment with such opening. The invention relates particularly tothe type of side door fixtures manufactured and sold bymy assignee, and disclosed and claimed in G-ilpin Patent No. 1902772 of March2l, 1933'.

Such'a side door is commonly arranged with rollers pivotallymounted upon-the door and preferably enclosed in housings so that asmall part of each rollerextends below its respective housing. A- horizontally extending track is secured to a side wall of thecar; preferably adjacent the lower' edge ofthe door opening, and is provided with depressions. The-depressions are somewhat deeper than the distance by which the rollers extend below the roller housings so that when the door is moved to a position wherein" the rollers are above the depressions, contact between the rollers and the truck is relieved andthe door is supported by parts of the roller housings or other members secured to the door resting upon the track or other-fixed part or parts of the car.

The friction between the members secured to the door and parts secured. to the car is suf=- ficient to prevent easy moving of the door. The depressions in the track are positioned so that this frictional resistance to moving iseifective when. the: door is in the-full open or full closed position and so-that the rollers rollupon the track when the door is inany position betweendull open and full closed;

Railroadregulations require that before a car is. moved the door thereof should' be absolutely locked so astoprevent sliding: of the door during service movements of'the car. This regulation is not universally compliedwith and-railroad operators often rely uponthe above mentioned frictional l resistance to prevent movement of the door. This.frictionalresistance has proved to be insuflicient: in certain cases; injuries to operators, as well as damagesto the car and the door, have resulted asa consequence.

An object of the invention is toincrease thefrictional resistance of" the door tomoving when suchdoor: is in the fullopen or full.'olosed position. This :added 'frictiona-l' resistance, in effect, supplements that. which: is due to the weight of the door;

the door opening so as to prevent the entrance;

of moisture and other foreign matter, as well ascold air, into the car.

Another object is to reduce the tendency of doors tojumpoffthe track. A railway car is subject to violent shocks during service and the doorconsequently has a tendency to bounce up anddown during such shocks. The hood arrangement at the top of the door commonly restricts the upward movement of the door so as to pre-- vent jumping oil the track, but such hoods have been known to become displaced somewhat, thereby increasing the danger of losing the door.- I

have incorporated means associated with the track and rollers to reduce the danger of losing the door by an upward movement thereof.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following detailed description by referring to the accompanyingdraiw' ings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1' is a side elevation ofa portion of a railway box' car showing a side door incorporating myinvention.

Fig." 2? is an. enlarged section on line 2'2 of; Fig; 1'.

Fig. 315- similar to a part. of Fig; l showingthe left roller housingrto an'en'larged scale.

Fig. 4 is a section on, line 4--4 of'Fig. 3.

Fig. 5' is similar to a portion of Fig. 1 showing the right roller housing to a larger scale.

Fig. 6- is a section on line 6-6 of-Fig. 5.

"In the railway box car shown in Figs. I and 2 the upper chord of the side wall 2 is formed; by the side plate 3 and the lower chord is formed bythe angle shaped side sill 5. A portion of the upstanding leg 6 of the side sill 5 is cut away at the doorway in order to provide access to the interior of the car.

of the side sill 5 and extends along that portion of the side sill 5 having the upstanding leg 6 partly cut away; that is, the bulb angle 8 reinforces the side sill 5 at the doorway. The track upon which the door moves comprises an outwardl'y facing and horizontally extending channel member H disposed with its web I3 substantially vertical. The channel track H is supported-byspaced apart brackets [4 extending between andsecured to the bulb angle 8' and to the track H; The end of the track H remote from the A bulb angle 8 having the. bulbed leg Sldepending is secured to the bottom doorway is supported by an angle clip l6 depending from the side sill and to which the track II is attached by a bracket l4 similar to those heretofore described.

The side door of the car has for its upper frame member a w-section strip 26 and for its lower frame member an angle strip 28. Vertical frame members 29 extend between and are secured to the upper (26) and lower (28) frame members. A roller housing 3!, 32 is disposed at each lower corner of the door and arranged to function also as a gusset to connect and reinforce the adjacent ends of the vertical and horizontal frame members 29, 28 at the corners of the door. Each of said housings 3|, 32 has a roller 34 pivotally mounted therein and projecting a small distance therebelow so as to engage the upper flange 35 of the channel track member Each roller housing 3|, 32 preferably has a part 31 depending on the inside of the track H and another part 38 depending on the outside of the track H; such parts 31, 38 spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the width of the upper flange 35 of the channel track so as to provide a guide for the door during its rolling movement upon the track.

The track H is depressed at certain positions (42) which are positioned so that when the door 25 is in the full open or full closed position, the rollers 34 are disposed above the depressions 42 in the track Each roller housing 3|, 32 has a pad 43 disposed immediately above the track H and the depressions 42 in the track are deeper than the distance by which the rollers 34 extend below the roller housings 3|, 32 so that when the rollers 34 are above the depressions 42, the pads 43 rest upon the upper flange 35 of the track The weight of the door 25 is thus supported on the pads 43 and the sliding friction between such pads 35 and the track H is sufficient to prevent easy movement of the door when such door is in full open or full closed positions. When the door 25 is in any position between the 'full open and full closed position, the rollers 34 roll upon the undepressed parts of the track II and the door is easily movable from one position to another. A starting handle 45 is pivotally mounted upon the door 25 and brackets 46 are mounted upon the track so that the large'leverage provided by such handle 45 may be used when the door is in the full open or full closed position to slide the pads 43 over the track until the rollers 34 come into operation on the undepressed part of the track, therebypermitting easy rolling of the door 25.

As shown in Fig. 2, the outer depending part 38 of the roller housing 3| and/or 32 has a leg 50 projecting into the channel and underlying the upper flange 35 of the channel track so as to prevent excessive upward movement of the door 25 and consequent jumping off the track if the interlocking arrangement of hood 5|, top door strip 25 and sealing strip 53 should prove ineffective. The upstanding finger 54 on the door 25 cooperates with the depending leg 56 of the hood 5| to guide the door.

The inner depending part 31 of the roller housing 3| and/or 32 has a recess 60 facing toward the web l3 of the channel track H as shown most clearly in Figs. 4 and 6. Both housings 3|. 32 are preferably provided with recesses 60. 'A cantilever spring BI is secured at one end 53 thereof to the track H and has its other or free end 64 formed convexly outward from the web I3. When the rollers 34 are disposed over the depressions 42, the convex parts 64 of the springs 6| project into the recesses 60 and any movement of the door 25 requires that the springs 6| be compressed in order to clear between the track H and the unrecessed portions 66 of the inner depending parts 31 of the roller housings 3|, 32. The leading edges of the inner depending parts 31 are preferably flared (61) away from the web [3 of the channel track so as to permit the roller housings 3|, 32 to slide past the springs 6|, thereby permitting the convex parts 64 of the springs 6| to seat themselves within the recesses 60. The force required to compress the springs adds to the frictional resistance of the door 25 to sliding, as hereinabove pointed out, and reduces the danger of accidental movement of the door.

As shown in Fig. 2, the inner (3'!) and outer (38) depending parts of the roller housings 3|, 32 are spaced apart a sufiicient distance to provide adequate clearance between the parts 31, 38 and the track so that the door moves freely inwardly and outwardly a relatively small distance during rolling upon the track. The springs 6| function to move the door 25 inwardly toward the car as the door approaches the full closed position and thereby provides a more effective seal between the car and the door to prevent entrance of foreign matter into the car.

As hereinabove pointed out, there is a tendency at times for the door 25 to jump off the track during service movements of the car. The force exerted between the springs GI and the inner depending parts 31 of the roller housings 3|, 32 adds a. frictional resistance which tends to prevent upward movement of the door.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim: 7

1. In a railway car having a Wall with a doorway therein and a door having rollers revolubly mounted upon the lower edge thereof and arranged to roll upon a horizontally extending track in a plane parallel with said wall, and means to transfer the weight of the door from the rollers to rigid parts of the door in a predetermined position of the door thereby frictionally resisting movement of the door, the combination therewith of resilient means carried by a fixed part of the car and adapted to be laterally compressed by said door as it moves to said predetermined position to further resist longitudinal movement of said door.

2. In a railway car having a wall with a doorway therein and a door having rollers revolubly mounted upon the lower edge thereof and arranged to roll upon a horizontally extending track having depressions therein adapted to receive said rollers and transfer the weight of the door from the rollers to rigid parts of the door in predetermined positions of the door, the combination therewith of resilient means carried by a fixed part of the car and adapted to be laterally compressed by said door as said rollers move into said depressions to further resist longitudinal movement of said door.

3. In a railway car having a wall with a doorway therein and a door having rollers revolubly mounted upon the lower edge thereof and arranged to roll upon a horizontally extending ly compressed by said door as it moves to said predetermined position to press said door against said wall and thereby provide a more effective seal between the car, wall and door and to fur- 5 ther resist longitudinal movement of said door.

WILLIAM E. BIKLE. 

